Renewable energy

What are the five different Renewable energy resources?

Biomass, Geothermal, Wind, Solar and Hydropower

Where does each resource originate or come from?

Biomass comes from plants and organic materials, Geothermal is derived from the Earth's heat, Wind is generated by atmospheric movements, Solar originates from sunlight, and Hydropower is produced from flowing water.

How do we harness or obtain the energy from solar energy to produce electricity?

Most of the sun’s energy arrives as heat and light. we call this Radiant energy. Solar energy is harnessed using photovoltaic cells that convert sunlight directly into electricity, or through solar thermal systems that use sunlight to heat a fluid, which then produces steam to drive a turbine.

What are the pros and cons of using solar energy?

Pros:

Relatively simple technology

Little maintenance

reliable and quiet

Free energy after purchasing solar panels

tax reduction

Cons:

Energy can’t be generated at night

Cloud cover reduces power

works best if an optimal (capture maximum rays) angle

Only converts 20% of sun’s energy to electricity

Solar energy is energy from the sun. It can be captured in two ways, passive and active. what is the difference between active and passive energy?

Active solar energy involves the use of TECHNOLOGY, such as solar panels or pumps, to collect and convert SUN RAYS (solar cells) into usable energy, while passive solar energy relies on building design and materials to get energy from the way sunlight naturally changes throughout the day.

How does Solar energy produce electricity?

1. Sunlight Hits Solar Panels: Sunlight strikes the solar panels made of photovoltaic cells.

2. The energy from the sunlight excites electrons in the semiconductor material (like silicon) of the cells.

3. Electric Current is Generated: The excited electrons move, creating a flow of electricity (direct current or DC).

4. Inverter Converts DC to AC: The DC electricity is sent to an inverter, which converts it to alternating current (AC) electricity, the type used in homes.

5. Electricity is Used or Stored: The AC electricity can be used to power your home, stored in batteries for later use, or sent back to the electrical grid.

What is energy?

power or force which can be used to do work

What is solar?

having to do with the sun

what is radiation?

power from the sun

The energy from the sun is in the form of _____ and _______

heat, light

Heat energy can cause ______ water to form cloud

evaporated or vapor

What can dark colors do to the heat from the sun?

obsorb

what do light colors do to the heat from the sun?

reflect

What is light energy?

Form of energy from the sun that is not heat enrgy

Photovoltaic cells create what from the suns rays?

electricity

How do we harness or obtain the energy from biomass in order to generate elctricity?

By converting organic materials such as

wood, wood byproducts, grasses, corn, oilseed crops and agricultural + crop wastes. These feedstock are burned to produce heat or converted to fuel like ethanol through biological + chemical process.

What are common kinds of biomass?

Wood and wood chips, animal manure and crops waste.

What is biomass?

Energy from any material that comes from plants or microorganisms that were recently living.

what is biofuel?

fuel made when mixed with gasoline, such as ethanol

What is biogas?

animal manure is decomposed by bacteria to make methane gas aka biogas

What two countries have thousands of biogas plants?

china and india

feedstock can be used as what?

burned to produce heat or be converted to ethanol to be used as fuel

How does biomass produce electricity?

Biomass in burned to induce heat

the energy is used to heat water

the water turns to steam

the steam turns the turbine

the turbine shaft is connected to the shaft of the generator

magnets spin within wire coils to produce electricity

Advantages and disadvantages of biomass?

pros:

can be stored and used when needed

releases less harmful pollutants than gasoline

uses materials that might normally be discarded

cons:

growing crops for biofuel requires large amounts of land + pesticides

Land could be used for grwoing food

pesticides could pollute

How do we harness or obtain the energy from wind turbines to generate electricity?

Wind is captured with wind turbines and when the blade turns, a generator located inside the tower creates electricity.

Where is it found?

found near farmland, in narraw mountain passes and even in oceans

What is the basic principle of wind energy?

A series of blades or sails mounted around the rotor catch the wind and turn kenetic energy (energy of motion) to rotational energy

3 primary factors to determine how much energy can be produced?

size and orientation of blades

the aerodynamic design of the blades

amount of wind turning the rotor

Blade orientation?

Blade orientation= positioning of the blades relative to the direction of the wind

vertical blades- pick up wind coming from any direction

horizontal- capture the full force of wind’ by tracking direct and facing it

Modern blades are curved where wind travels faster. why is it?

optimize how much the blade can cut into the wind

advantages and disadvantages

pros:

can be efficient and cheap in places with steady wind

it’s clean, no pollutants

cons:

Mathematical limit to how much wind it can convert to electricity

turbines disrupt natural scenery

make it hard to integrate into electrical grids

Wind is inconsistent/ not a good source of energy in all locations

dangerous for nats and birds

How are wind turbines used to produce electricity?

1. Wind catches the blades of the turbine.2. The blades turn, creating rotational energy.3. This rotational energy spins a rotor connected to a generator inside the turbine.4. The generator converts this mechanical energy into electrical energy.5. The electricity is then transmitted through cables to the electrical grid for distribution.

How do we harness or obtain the energy from hydropower to generate electricity?

Hydropower generates electricity by harnessing the energy of flowing or falling water. Energy is made by flowing water. it flows through the tunnels into huge turbines which generate electircity

where are they located?

The power plants are located on the large damns, which control the flow of a river.

Hydro meaning

water

Hydro energy is an indirect form of

solar energy. Solar radiation evaporates water from the ocean to form clouds and when the moisture in the clouds condenses, it falls as rain/snow. that makes it way back to oceans in streams and rivers. the water cycle

Reservoir

reservoir is a large area where water is stored, usually created by building a dam

What are the pros and cons?

pros:

Energy is inexpensive to harness

because rivers are everywhere, its an available resource

Reliable because engineers control the water flow

cons:

Damming a river =great environmental impacts on people, plants, and wildlife

Depending on rainfall to fill the reservoir

expensive to build a dam

How does hydro dams create electricity?

Vast amounts of water are stored in a reservoir

Headgate controls flow

It starts as potential energy

water is released in a controlled way down the penstock (A penstock is a big pipe that carries water from a reservoir to a turbine)

Kinetic energy happens here = energy of motion

The water spins the turbine

the cause of the spinning turbine is called mechanical energy

The turbine is connected to electrical generators

Inside the generate are magnets that produce electricity

It gets sent to the transformer which captures the electricity

the electricity is then carried away on big wires called transmission lines

since it’s very powerful to be used at home right away

goes to the switch station where power the power voltage is reduced

travels the power poles to your neighborhood which goes to your house

how do we harness or obtain Geothermal energy to produce electricity?

heat energy straight from the deep core within earth. form of hot water or steam that is heated from the magma and pumped to surface. 90% of iceland uses this

Pros and cons of gerothermal?

Pros:

Can be inexpensive if it is used near the surface

Releases no pollutants or very few compared to fossil fuels

Can provide continuous energy for a long time

is free once everything is installed

does not require another fuel source to produce it

cons:

Can be expensive to find areas of hot rock underground

high installment to build power plants

Steam coming from underground can contain air pollutants and other chemicals

corrodes pipes + unpleasant oder

Not a widespread source of energy

not easily transported

How does geothermal energy produce electricity?

1. Hot water or steam from underground reservoirs is brought to the surface.

2. The steam or hot water is used to turn turbines

3. The rotating turbines generate electricity

4. The turbine shaft is connected to the shaft of the generator

5. magnets spin within the wire coils to produce electrcitiy

6. The produced electricity is then transmitted to power lines.